A Meeting
by The Infamous Man
Summary: The Crawling Chaos watches on as the Inaba Persona Users celebrate in its newest form.


**I do not own The Stand or Persona series.**

* * *

"WE DID IT!"

A cry of victory echoed through the air. A cry of relief, a cry full of happiness, a cry that could only be made by the youthful. A group of teenagers and one being not of the mortal world celebrated. Yu Narukami, their leader. Stoic, but friendly. Yosuke Hanamura, foolish at times but reliable. Chie Satonaka, strong willed but also kind. Yukiko Amagi, quiet but had fire underneath that silence. Kanji Tatsumi, tough but also soft within. Risei Kujikawa, playful but also insightful. Naoto Shirogane, mature yet childlike within. And finally the creature known as Teddie, who was both an annoyance yet a dear friend to all that met him.

They cheered for themselves, they cheered for the quiet town of Yasoinaba. They cheered because the sad, pathetic man who was the cause of murders and kidnappings and numerous other hardships was caught and could do no harm. The being who enabled him on this path with power, Izanami, had left the mortal plane and let humanity chose its own path. They celebrated, thinking that their days of peace had begun.

As they celebrated, The Dark One, The Faceless One watched.

The worn heels of its sharp-toed cowboy boots clicked on the pavement, which seemed to be a signal for the residents of Yasoinaba to hide it from view. To absorb it in their crowd. But even as they did that, every time someone passed it they would rub themselves as if someone walked over their grave. Drivers passing in front of it proceeded to get a feeling of dread, of something trying to devour them spiritually. The Faceless One wore faded, pegged jeans and a denim jacket. Its pockets, for nothing more than its own amusement, were stuffed to the brim of fifty kinds of conflicting literature. Pamphlets of all seasons, rhetorics of all seasons. If it handed you a pamphlet, a person would feel the burning hatred and the desire to do something to somebody of an opposite belief.

To give into the inner hate, the inner evil.

There was a button on each breast of the jacket. On the right, a yellow smiley-face. On the left, a pig wearing a policeman cap with written in red letters which dripped to simulate blood 'HOW'S YOUR PORK?'. On its back was an old and battered Boy Scout knapsack. Its eyes were almost frantic with the possibilities before it. There was a dark hilarity on its face, and perhaps also in its heart. It was the face of a hatefully happy man. A face that radiated a horrible, handsome warmth. A face that would make young children run to their mommies in fear and pain. A face that could turn even the most pointless arguments bloody.

It was Nyarlathotep's, the Crawling Chaos', favorite form.

It was neither male nor female. It was a force of human nature. It acted on all the evils of mankind, and their wishes.

Sure, that pathetic, paranoid, and racist human H.P. Lovecraft _thought_ that he had made it. But in reality, it placed the idea in that pathetic man's skull so that it could exist. Grow more powerful. Stick around, even if it wasn't worshiped as a god besides from a few.

It had played games with humanity, wore many faces. Acting on their wishes and most base desires. It even wore the face of Adolf Hitler for a while (And that was certainly fun to it.). But it enjoyed playing games with its opposite, Philemon, the most. Seeing if humanity would become enlightened or ultimately destroy itself.

Because of the actions of a few teenage humans, their Personas, and their resolve, it was defeated.

Twice.

And Nyarlathotep was nothing if not a very sore loser.

It had been banished, but Nyarlathotep could not be destroyed. It had returned to the collective unconscious of humanity, and looked for a way to return to 'the game'.

It found one, in the dream of another human. An author in fact, one who unknowingly gave the Crawling Chaos a loophole to use.

The author provided him a vessel, an evil multidimensional sorcerer, who wandered in from world to world. Sometimes beaten, sometimes not. It was a character that claimed to be the Crawling Chaos itself, but at the same time it was not.

Nyarlathotep hollowed out the idea's mind. Took out the yolk of its personality, and used the thing as a flesh suit in order to travel around in.

And just like its new host, it had been reborn. Born from the womb of a Japanese prostitute in Japan. She died giving birth to it, and he walked and grown within moments from that.

Nyarlathotep chuckled to itself, and then began to walk. Walk up the shopping district. His boots clinking on the pavement.

Where would he go? Who knew? From Yasoinaba, to Tatsumi Port. From Tatsumi Port to Tokyo. From Tokyo to Beijing. From Beijing to London. From London to Manhattan…

So many possibilities….

"Hey!"

The Faceless One turned on its heel, and saw Philemon's newest passing fancy/pawn Yu Narukami. The boy was standing before him, exhaustion apparent in his eyes but no emotion showing on his face.

But The Dark One could see his hands shaking.

Shaking of fear, fear that had no cause for all the boy knew.

"Who are you?" Yu Narukami asked, his eyes narrowing. "I have never seen you in this town before."

The Crawling Chaos chuckled. So, looks like Philemon chose wisely in his pawn. "Well now…" Nyarlathotep grinned. It was wearing the costume, might as well play the part. "It must feel nice."

"Feel nice?"

"Feel nice to be a seeker of the truth I mean." When Yu stood straight like a board, The Faceless One continued. "I mean, you seem like a strapping young man who knows the value of truth. Because truths help to answer questions. Only problem is that truth can be so easily twisted, kinda like that dance, and I'm sure you know it too."

"What are you talking about…?"

"People hunger for truth as much as they hunger for a roast-beef sandwich, or maybe a piece of cake. I mean, it's appetizing if it's the truth you're looking for. But truth can also be considered junk food, what with how much bullshit you can spew and people will accept. But then again, I did have a nice burger with cheddar cheese and a side of fries with a nice little parmesan and garlic dusting on top, with a nice chocolate shake to wash it all down…" Another chuckle.

"Answer my question." Now it was no longer the usual stoic but curious voice. Now Yu was speaking out of annoyance and anger.

"Oh I must be torturing you now." Nyarlathotep stuck out its hand and said, "Pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name."

"I don't know you." Yu pointed out, and it took all the Crawling Chaos' will not to burst out laughing.

Philemon didn't even bother telling his pawns about it. Oh, the hilarity of all this.

"No, no I guess you wouldn't." The Dark One brought back its hand. "But I do know you, Yu Narukami."

Beads of sweat began to roll of Yu's forehead, and he swallowed some saliva still in his mouth.

"To make a goddess admit that she was wrong… that takes skill. But in hindsight, you are still _very_ weak. Compared to the others I mean. But still, you have potential. I guess that's why he chose you." It leaned down and whispered into the teen's ear. "But remember this… " It then held up its right hand, and it made sure Yu saw what looked like an black stone with a red flaw in the center, not unlike a horrible little eyeball and danced it along its fingers. "…Throughout whatever nonsensical little adventures you and your 'friends' have after this…" It closed its palm, and then opened the left to reveal the eye was there now. "…Truth isn't everything. Truth is just a concept that can be twisted and shifted around like this little do-dad to explain whatever the fuck humanity wants." Then, it closed its left hand before opening it and showing that nothing was there. "And in the end, truth is going to mean jack-shit. And humanity will either chose enlightenment… or their basic instincts. And If I had to put money on it, I would chose the latter."

"Who…" Yu's shaking hands tightened into fists. "No… _what_ are you?"

It chuckled and moved away, his boots clicking on the pavement. "We're going to meet again, sooner or later. That much, I can assure you."

Nyarlathotep then began to walk away, while Yu Narukami stood in place. The vessel it wore had done work that the being could appreciate. Its work helped to bring about a rather good example of good vs. evil. Enlightenment or destruction. It was a grand idea.

Maybe it would take a page from the vessel's book and do it on this world.

Or maybe not.

But no matter what it chose, The Crawling Chaos knew that it had time to decide. And whatever it decided, it knew Philemon would take it up on a brand new bet. After all, it was a very long walk from here to the United States.

But this vessel wasn't called The Walkin' Dude for nothing.

Then, The Dark One stopped and turned around. It grinned at Yu Narukami, causing the young Persona User to shiver and sweat some more.

"Until we meet again though… I suppose you can call me Randall Flagg."

* * *

 **xxXXxx**

 _Sho Minazuki fled across the desert, and Labrys followed._

 _It had been years since the adventures of Yasoinaba, and Labrys looked back on them fondly._

 _There were hardships yes, but there was also fun. There was an innocence. It was a time when believing in yourself and others could win the day._

 _Those days were now over._

 _It was a time of conflict, simplified as it may be. In a timespan which almost seemed sudden, Shadows and monsters called Demons were unleashed onto the world. Humanity, at LEAST 99% of it, was dead. The remainder was split into two camps. One lead by Yu-kun and the man only known as the Phantom Thief, while the other was led by the entity that fancied itself the name Randall Flagg._

 _One could call it the final battle. Good versus Evil._

 _It was almost cartoonish. Good guys against bad guys. There was no in between. Anyone who skirted the line ended up on a side in the end._

 _Just like Sho did._

 _Labrys took a moment to look over herself. Rather than flaunting her mechanical nature and school uniform, she wore baggy white pants and a long-sleeved right shirt. Her hands gripped onto her axe. She wondered if she were human, she would actually sweat._

 _Rather than dwell on those thoughts, she continued to tread on the white sand. Not losing sight of Sho._

 _The conflict took its toll on humanity, on those closest to her. She pondered on the dead. Akihiko-san, killed by a stray bullet. Junpei-san, mobbed by a gang of the enemy and their Shadow and Demon pets. Yosuke-kun, went out to search for supplies and never came back. Naoto-san, killed herself in order to avoid giving information to the enemy after being captured. Mitsuru-san_ _…_ _she went off to confront the enemy_ _'_ _s leader._

 _They got back her head, with a note written in blood_ _'_ _NICE TRY, BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME._ _'_

 _Her sister, Aigis._

 _And now, she was following Aigis_ _'_ _killer._

 _Suddenly, Sho stopped and Labrys launched herself forward. She landed just three meters away from him. He was dressed in a scheme nearly opposite to hers. All black cloth, and with a pointy black cap whose ends swayed in the wind and gave peaks of his crimson hair. His right arm gripped onto the large scythe he was holding._

 _His left arm couldn_ _'_ _t really do anything, what with it not being there._

 _"_ _Tired of runnin_ _'_ _?_ _"_ _Labrys spat out, and Sho turned to show her his now baggy eyes._

 _"_ _No, I just want to get this over with you bucket of bolts._ _"_

 _"_ _Yu-kun ordered me to bring you back dead or alive for what you_ _'_ _ve done ya bastard._ _"_ _Labrys then had her axe_ _'_ _s thrusters come to life, making it easier to lift._ _"_ _Guess which I_ _'_ _m gonna do?_ _"_

 _"…_ _Flagg told me I either kill you, or he_ _'_ _ll kill me himself._ _"_ _Sho hefted the scythe over his right shoulder._ _"_ _I don_ _'_ _t give a flying fuck what you want to do to me, or what that whole_ _'_ _friendship and justice_ _'_ _bastard_ _wants._ _"_

 _Labrys grit her teeth._ _"_ _So now you_ _'_ _re Flagg_ _'_ _s little footstool? Yu-kun and the others gave ya a home! A family! We wanted to trust you!_ _"_

 _"_ _Then it was stupid of all of you to do that. I didn_ _'_ _t ask for your acceptance or trust. And even when I was brought in, it was all the_ _'_ _don_ _'_ _t do this_ _'_ _and_ _'_ _don_ _'_ _t do that_ _'_ _bullshit._ _"_ _Sho then pointed to his stump._ _"_ _Reason why Flagg is so pissed is because I turned tail and ran after you chopped it off, you mechanical bitch. He gave me the opportunity to be whoever the hell I want._ _"_ _Sho glared at her._ _"_ _Either way, one of us is walking out of here with the other_ _'_ _s corpse._ _"_

 _Labrys gripped her axe._ _"_ _I_ _'_ _m gonna do what Yu-kun and the others should have done to ya years ago._ _"_

 _Sho gave a small, hollow laugh._ _"_ _Wouldn_ _'_ _t have it any other way._ _"_

 _At that moment, Sho jumped forward, bringing his scythe over his head while Labrys reared back her axe like a bat._

 _This was it._

 _Her stand._

 _And the Crawling Chaos watched with glee as it waited for Philemon_ _'_ _s soldiers to come._

* * *

 _ **The End**_

* * *

 **Note: Hey everyone, TIM here with a little one-shot that I made up while reading Stephen King's epic _The Stand_ and suffering temporary writers block with my fic _A Different Kind of Truth_ (Only temporary, I'll be sure to get to work as soon as possible).**

 **Idea came out because Randall Flagg, the main villain of The Stand, is hinted to perhaps be a facet of Nyarlathotep (Although I am aware he gets an actual backstory in The Dark Tower series) However considering the nature of Persona Nyarlathotep... I saw the opportunity to write this as a tale of one of the many possibilities of Nyarlathotep's return in the Multiverse... and the consequences of him taking Randall Flagg's identity and playing the part a bit.**

 **Be sure to check out my other stories.**

 **Please leave constructive criticism.**


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